The Unconventional Wooing of Pierce
by Flying Pyro of Doom
Summary: Boris/Pierce Fluff. Boris doesn't want Pierce to be afraid ,so he gives him presents. Pierce takes the gifts as death threats. Boris doesn't seem to realize that normal people don't appreciate dead things as gifts. Pierce is traumatized.
1. The Birdy

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, actually it was a dark and stormy morning. In all honesty, it wasn't even all that dark and stormy.

In truth, it was a pleasant and warm mid morning, and Pierce appreciated the enjoyable weather up until eight seventeen, when there was a knock at his door. He was very excited about having a mysterious visitor, but that quickly faded when he opened the door to find Boris standing on his stoop. Unannounced visitors were generally accepted by Pierce, but only when he didn't have to worry about being eaten by them. Cannibalism was one thing he had never wanted to experience, and he especially never wanted to be the one being cannibalized in that group. So, like most people in that situation, he slammed the door in Boris' face.

Usually when Boris decided he should drop in on the dormouse, that would be the end if it. He would whine outside the door for about five minutes, and maybe scratch at it a bit, but that was that. For some reason, things were a little bit different this time.

Pierce was sitting with his back leaning against the door, listening to the mumbling from the other side. Usually he would just ignore it, but something that Boris had said caught his attention.

"C'mon, I've got a present for you."

Boris sounded glum when he said that, and Pierce let his curiosity get the best of him. He stood and opened the door a crack. He mustered all of the courage in his tiny self, and spoke to the cat.

"What do you want, Boris?"

Boris tried his best to hide his grin as he pulled a small wrapped box out from behind his back.

"I brought this for you." He slipped his hand through the small crack and handed it to Pierce, turned, and walked away.

Pierce was confused, scared, curious, and amazed all at the same time. Boris had never been that civil to him, ever. What terrified him more was that what just happened was more then civil, it was almost…nice. He watched the cat walk away, and once he was out of sight, stared down at the gift in his hand. It was a small, pink box with black ribbons tied at the top. He tugged at the ribbons, and pulled the lid off.

Pierce had never been so disturbed in his life. Inside the box was a small, helpless bird, and it was very much dead. He didn't know what to do with the present; it was obviously a threat, after all you didn't just give people small, mangled animals for no reason.

Pierce carefully set the box on his porch, and ran back inside to wash his hands. Once he'd finished disinfecting himself he went and found his shovel, and dug a shallow hole at the base of his porch. He then pushed the little box off of his porch with a nearby broom, and it landed squarely in the hole. Using the shovel, he pushed the displaced dirt back where it belonged, and patted it down flat.

He didn't leave the house again after the bird's funeral. He knew that whatever Boris had planned for him, it could not have been good. He found that he was much happier curled up on his couch with coffee then he would be even considering going out side. The message that the bird sent was loud and clear. Boris didn't want to see him outside his house, and Pierce had no problem adhering to his request.

Unfortunately for both parties involved, that was not the message Boris had intended to send. What he was trying to say was closer to "You're adorable and smell like coffee", not "I want to disembowel you with a bendy straw." If only Boris knew that the way a cat shows affection wasn't quite acceptable in normal society, the first day of courting may have gone better. But, the attempted wooing went on, and Boris would eventually learn dead animals are not acceptable gifts.

Authors Notes:

I constantly had to remind myself 'I before E, except after C' while typing Pierce's name I called him 'Peirce' a bunch of times in the handwritten copy.

-While writing this, all I could listen to was 'Anything Goes' by John Barrowman, I'm not sure why, but whatever works…or should I say anything goes?

- "after all you didn't just give people small, mangled animals for no reason." I hate this sentence, so much.

-The 'Disembowel you with a bendy straw" thing is something I told someone once, which is actually pretty disturbing, isn't it?

Onto the serious note:

This chapter makes me sad, actually. It turned out okay, but I think I could have done so much better. I was just really frustrated with it, and ended up just writing. Starting it off with 'it was a dark and stormy night' was actually only because I would write five sentences for the beginning, and then delete, and repeat. I'm horrid at starting and finishing fic, so that's how it always goes with me. I'm not sure why it always happens like that, it just does.

Anyway, I'd love suggestions. I have the plot basically worked out already, but I love to hear other people's opinions and thoughts on what I write. Even if you just say "In line A, you used the wrong form of to.", I'll still love you forever for it.

I'll be seeing you later,

~Ali.


	2. The Fishy

The morning following the bird fiasco, at exactly eight seventeen, Boris appeared at Pierce's door again. At first, Pierce considered ignoring him and continuing to lurk on the couch, like he had the previous day and long into the night. He then let out a deep, sleepy sigh, and pulled himself off of the couch. He knew Boris wouldn't go away; it wasn't in his nature to leave something like this alone. Pierce walked over to the door, and cracked it open just the tiniest bit. It was, in fact, Boris standing there, much to his dismay. Pierce reached for the weapon he'd prepared the previous night, and took a deep breath.

He pulled open the door, and flung the bucket of ice water with all his might. It smacked Boris right in the forehead, and he dropped the box he was holding and disappeared into the woods, exactly like the cat he was. Pierce may have coated his porch in ice and water, but it was worth it. Boris wouldn't be coming back for a while

. The mouse looked down at his soaked porch, and eyed the box. It was larger then the one from yesterday, and the colors of the box and ribbons were reversed. Pierce knew he had to open it. He wasn't sure why, but he just had to. He grabbed the box, and pulled off the ribbons and yanked off the lid.

Inside the box was a fish almost the length of his arm. It was yellow with green stripes, and looked like it couldn't have been caught more then a few hours ago.

Pierce had no idea what to do with the fish. He wasn't going to eat it that was for sure, with Boris acting the way he was, it was probably poisoned. So what was he to do with it? An idea struck, and he had an amazing and simple way to dispose of the fish. Pierce ran into his house, and grabbed an encyclopedia, a red marker, and a piece of paper. He sat with the fish for a good fifteen minutes, scanning the encyclopedia and checking every kind of fish he could think of until he found a match. According to the enormous book, it was a kind of fish called a perch. He flung down the book and grabbed the marker. In big, careful letters he wrote "Free Perch" on the piece of paper. Pierce recapped the marker, grabbed the boxed fish and the paper, and set up a pretty little display on a street corner.

He set the fish on to top the box, leaned the little sign against a wall, and then scurried away as fast as he could. He knew how the people in his world worked, and no one could turn down free fish.

Pierce took the threat to heart, and slept, or at least attempted to sleep, with a bucket of ice water by his bed that night. You never know when a literal cat burglar might show up, and Pierce would rather be safe than sorry.

Author's Notes:

Wow, i was NOT expecting this to get so much love.I guess no one writes these two as having a real relationship, which they will end up in. Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed, i appreciate it so much!

Now, onto the serious note.

This chapter doesn't really work for me. It's stiff, and doesn't really flow very well. I just can't seen to fix it up anymore...I'm sorry for that.

~Ali.


	3. Extra: The Fishy's Fate

Mary Gowland was walking down the street. He was fine with doing nothing in particular that day, so he spent the day just ambling around Wonderland. He adored taking walks, and always let his mind wander when he went out for one. There was something strange about Gowland's wandering mind, though. If you were to follow his train of thought, it would have ended with fish. For some odd reason, Gowland often thought of how he wished to eat fish. He never seemed to get the fish, but he always dreamt of them.

Today his lack of fish changed. As he was strolling, he came to a street corner. It was mostly like an average street corner, there were people and litter and everything you'd expect to be there. What made this particular intersection special was the fish sitting on the corner. There was a sign pointing to it that read "Free Perch".

Gowland couldn't possibly say no to free fish. He grabbed it by the tail, and jogged back home, thinking of all the delicious perch he could eat.

He'd have to share with Boris, of course, but this fish was definitely big enough for two. He was sure Boris would love such an amazing perch.

Gowland didn't know how much work Boris had put into catching that fish, and Boris was blissfully unaware of how Gowland had obtained the perch at dinner that night.

Author's Notes:

This mini chapter is mostly to make up for the suck of the last chapter. i wanted to write a 'chapter 2.5' to tell a completely unimportant but still related story., so i did. I actually feel bad for Boris here, he ends up eating the fish he caught just for Pierce, and doesn't even know it.

I'll start typing up the real part three right now, so I'll se you all then.

~Ali.


	4. Basil

The next morning Pierce found that he hadn't needed the ice water. There were no intrudes in the night, and what shocked him more, there wasn't a knock at the door at eight seventeen. Now, Pierce may not have been the most intelligent creature in Wonderland, but he had enough common sense to think through something like this.. He knew that when someone who was as mean as Boris was tormenting you, and then they just vanish, they MUST be up to something even worse. It was just how things like this worked, and Boris couldn't possibly upset that pattern. That meant he was out somewhere, probably being the dastardly cat that he was.

Pierce then realized that if Boris wasn't knocking on his door, then that meant that Boris wasn't at his door at all, which made it safe to open. He was feeling particularly adventurous that day, and he decided to do just that. Pierce found that he almost immediately regretted taking that step outside. Today, there were two boxes on his steps. Both were taller then either of the other 'presents', and they were once again packaged in matching black and pink wrapping. One was a perfectly square pink box with black ribbons, and it was big enough to comfortably hold a soccer ball. The black box was a little taller and a lot thinner, and he soon discovered it was also much lighter than the other.

Pierce picked up the pink box, or more accurately, tried his very hardest to pick it up. That didn't go so well. He was not expecting it to weigh as much as it did, and almost dropped the box. Instead of taking that risk a second time, he pulled off the black bow, grabbed the lid, and yanked it off. At first he didn't want to look. The other boxes had all held disturbing, and very much dead, things. Pierce really had no desire to be in close quarters with small, dead animals. It wasn't pleasant. Not in the slightest.

He took a moment to gather himself, and looked down into the box, knowing that it was going to be something horrible.

The contents surprised him, but not in a particularly bad way. It was so mundane, yet so random.

It was a goldfish in a bowl.

Pierce couldn't find any possible meaning in a goldfish. The other two boxes, they had meant death. He'd figured that out the second he'd opened the bird, but a goldfish? What could Boris possibly be trying to say?

He pulled the bowl out of the box, and set it down next to him. The little yellow fish peered up at him. It looked innocent enough. There was no way that a goldfish could cause him any bodily harm, so he decided to keep the little thing.

Pierce brought himself down to the fish's eyelevel, and looked him straight in the face.

"So, fishy, what's your name? Is it Rosemary?", he thought bout it for a moment," Naw, you can't be Rosemary, you're a boy! What about Mint? You don't look like a mint, so that can't be that either."

Pierce shifted so that he was lying flat on the porch, with his head perched on his arms.

"I think you look like a Basil. Are you Basil?"

He took the silence as a yes, and so the fish was named Basil.

Pierce stood, and grabbed the bowl to take his new friend inside. In the process of standing, he nearly launched the forgotten second box off of his porch. He decided that his new playmate was more important than the mystery box, and took a moment to take Basil inside. Pierce brought the fishbowl to his table, and positioned him exactly in the center of it. He made a return trip to his porch, grabbed Basil's old box and its twin, and sat it all down at the table.

"So, Basil, what else did he bring me?"

The fish didn't answer, and Pierce felt that the silence translated to 'I've no idea, Pierce! You should open the box and find out!'

He decided to listen to the fish's fictional response, and went through the normal process of bow removing, followed by lid lifting, and then the fear of more dead creatures. For the second time in ten minutes, Pierce was incredibly surprised by the boxes. This time, he wasn't even sure what it was, only that it was a potted plant. It was long and thin, and covered in little white flowers. Pierce had no idea what these things were supposed to mean. Two days of terror, followed by a day of humdrum, but confusing gifts was something that Pierce comprehend. If Boris was sending threats, then why a fish?

He thought about it, and realized that he didn't mind the humdrum one bit. It was always better to be confused than it was to be scared, and so the odd presents were welcomed with open arms. Pierce let Basil live on his kitchen table, and the mystery plant found its home on the front porch, right next to the door.

Boris wasn't sure what he had done the day before to deserve a bucket of ice water to the face, but he knew he never wanted to make Pierce that angry again.

Ever.

Not if his life depended on it.

So, instead of continuing the theme of 'I caught it myself' he decided to take a different approach. He decided he'd bring two very different presents, and whichever one Pierce seemed to like best, Boris would follow up on. To help him think of what these two drastically different things could be, he took a walk around the amusement park. The first thing he saw on this walk was a carnival style game, where the winner got a goldfish in a bag. That seemed perfect. A goldfish was a low maintenance, simple, but cute pet, and something that someone like Pierce could easily take care of.

Boris played the game for an hour and a half before he won, but it was worth it. He knew Pierce would love that fish.

The next present wasn't so easy to find. He took into consideration Pierce's personality, and decided that he needed something to help keep him calm. He knew the perfect thing.

Boris didn't realize that catnip only had a calming effect on cats, and would only look like pretty flowers to anyone who wasn't a feline themselves.

It was probably for the best that Pierce never found out that the flowers on his stoop were basically drugs for cats.

Author's Notes:

-Oh, Boris. You're so persistent. At least it wasn't dead this time, you're improving with your gift giving!

- I was so happy to get to use the word dastardly, It's a little bit ridiculous how excited I was when I typed it.

-The names that Pierce goes through for the fish prove the fact that I'm a botany nerd. They all come from the same plant family, Lamiaceae.

-Basil the fish is in honor of my friend, Chelsea. She has a fish with the same name that she speaks to in a British accent.

Onto the Serious Note:

I actually quite like this chapter. It's an almost decent length, and shows that Pierce is getting used to having Boris popping out of nowhere. Also, it proves that Boris is just as dense as Pierce sometimes, he's just better at hiding it. In my mind, the fact that Pierce didn't fear the fish is kind of the first step towards those two actually getting along, and eventually being in a relationship.

~Ali


	5. Boris' Therapy

It had been a calm couple of days at the Clock Tower, which was most definitely rare. Alice always had visitors coming in and going out. Most were invited, with a few individuals that made their way in without any warning, and were generally quickly removed from the premises. The past few days, it seemed like every one of her guests was away on some important business. She knew that Peter had been busy with some orders from the queen, Blood was occupied with a territory dispute, and Boris…she had no idea where he had gone. He was one of her most frequent visitors, and it was strange that she hadn't seen him for the past three days.

The morning of the fourth day was fairly normal, up until exactly eight twenty. That was when Boris made his appearance at the front door. He looked frazzled, which was what first led Alice to bring him to a side room with a table and chairs. Julius' work was, as always, blanketing the main table in the shared house. There were only two reasons that Boris showed up at the Clock Tower. The first was if he wanted to take Alice on some adventure or another and the second was when he needed to talk something out with someone. It was widely known that Alice was the most logical person in Wonderland, and was the best stand-in for a therapist.

They sat down at the table, and he began describing the goings on of the past three days in great detail. His stories of buckets filled with Icy-cold rejection and an hour at the carnival intrigued her. Alice had always known that Boris and Pierce had a rather twisted relationship, but no one, not even Alice, would have guessed that Boris wanted to be in an ACTUAL relationship.

Boris went on for a while, and finished with "And now I have NO idea what to do, 'cause my way hasn't exactly…y'know, worked." He sounded exasperated, and Alice, being herself, decided that he should at least have a decent chance with the object of his affections. Just because it was an inter-species relationship didn't make them any different from any other couple-to-be. Alice wanted to do anything she could to help those two get along, and she would help Boris in any way possible.

Helping them get along meant that she had to (very delicately) explain the implications that came with Boris' gifts.

"Boris, you said that you sent him a bird and a fish, right?" he nodded. "Well, you might have...scared him a little. You sent the boy two things you caught yourself, and that may have sent the wrong message."

He still didn't get it. Alice sighed, playing couple's counselor before the couple was even together was definitely a challenge. She thought a different approach might work out better.

"Alright, you're a cat, right?" There was more nodding. "And cats hunt things. Some of these things are birds, fish, and mice. Pierce is a…"

Boris finally got it.

"A mouse. Oh." The 'oh' went on for about three seconds, and ended with his brain trying to think of a way around the problem he may or may not have caused.

"But what can I get him? I thought if I gave him presents and stuff, he might start to trust me, but that kinda backfired"

Alice interrupted before he went off on another tangent.

"Well, when giving people gifts, you tend to give them things they like, right? So just get him something you know that he'll like. "

Boris puzzled for a minute or two, and somehow managed to follow her simple logic to the single most illogical answer. He stood, said something about 'caffeinated cheese' and ran out of the clock tower.

Alice wasn't sure how she felt about what had just happened. She knew that knowing Boris, Pierce was going to go through some interesting ordeals if they were ever going to be happy. She also knew that any store that sold cheese were about to be ransacked, and that any clerk who worked at a cheese-filled shop would soon have a monster headache. Boris would find it, no matter what. It didn't matter that, as far as she knew, there was no such thing as caffeinated cheese. Boris would get it, even if he had to make it himself. She wasn't sure how one would go about that, but when he set his mind on something, it would happen.

More than anything else, she knew that Boris and Pierce could definitely work through the species-related problems, and they might even be happy.

Plus, they would be the cutest couple she'd ever seen,

Incredibly dysfunctional, but still cute.

Author's Notes:

Oh my goodness, thank you to Gothicat for pointing out a slight(Alright, major) discrepancy. i had no idea that Pierce hates coffee! thank you so much! I've fixed it up a bit, and changed it to caffeinated cheese. i don't think that exists either, but at least Pierce wouldn't hate it.

-Boris/Pierce. Alice totally ships it.

-Writing Boris' improper English hurt me a lot. I try not to use the word 'kinda' when writing.

-I'm trying to keep the sections long, but this is just over 700 words. Oops.

-This chapter…I don't like it. I don't know why, I just don't.

Onto the serious note:

This chapter is pretty okay, I guess. Not much happens. I really wanted to write from an outsider's point of view, and show what was going on with Boris the whole time. He's stressed, poor dear. I felt like Alice was a good choice as a logical character that could help Boris through his present dilemma.

~Ali.


	6. Cheese

Important Note: There was a mistake in the last chapter that I have fixed since it was posted. Basically, the gift idea in the last chapter should have been caffeinated cheese, not cheese flavored coffee. I've fixed it in the last chapter and continuing that theme here. I'm sorry for any confusion i may have caused.

~Ali

Pierce was more paranoid than ever. After three days of gifts, there was a day of nothing. Nobody showed up at his door on the fourth day, nor were there any pink and black boxes on his porch. He spent the entire day cowering with Basil and, as always, downing coffee like it was going out of style.

When the fifth day rolled in, he was nearly out of his liquid hyperactivity in a cup. He had exhausted all of his various hidden supplies, and was drinking his second-to-last cup at six thirty-six in the morning when he heard shuffling outside his door. This greatly disturbed Pierce, and his first instinct was to cower under something. He tried his hardest, and managed to pass by that immediate reaction to find a more daring answer.

He crept up to the door, peered out of the peephole, and found that no one was there. Pierce wasn't sure he believed it, and cracked open the door to look. He was right, of course, his porch was clear of all living creatures. There was, however, a familiarly colored box on his stoop. Pierce had some mixed thoughts about the box, and his final decision was that if the last two presents weren't so bad, maybe this on would be something nice as well. There was, of course, a nagging part of him that feared that the box held another maimed animal, but he somehow managed to ignore that thought and brought it inside anyway.

Pierce sat the box down on his table, and plopped himself down on a chair in front of Basil. He talked to the fish often, mostly when he really needed to walk himself through something. For some reason or another, the one sided conversations often helped him think and get through his problems. He'd discussed the presents with his fish before, and he did the same now.

"Basil, I'm really confused. I just don't understand what's going on anymore. I don't know what Boris is doing. We've never been friends, and now he's giving me presents without any warning. We've always fought, always! We didn't make up without me knowing, did we?

He considered this idea for a moment, but quickly decided that it was irrational.

"Naw, that isn't even possible." Basil blinked in agreement. Pierce looked to his fishy friend for advice again

"So, do I open the box, or do I leave it? I mean, I've gotten four things so far, and two have been…gross… and the other two were almost sweet, I guess. That means that this has a fifty-fifty chance of being icky. Should I do it?" Basil didn't respond, but Pierce had become very good at translating these silences into a thought. He knew that the silence had to mean 'Of course you should, you never know what the box might hold!' Pierce once again took the imaginary advice, and opened up the box.

Inside the box was a round something or other that should have been very familiar to him. It smelled of dairy, and was the single most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It was a hunk of cheese. It had a slightly different aroma to it, one that Pierce couldn't recognize.

Then he realized exactly what it was. He held in his hands caffeinated cheese. He had heard mentions of it in the past, but no one really believed such a thing existed. It was so silly, so absurd, even Pierce didn't believe in it. And yet, here it was, sitting in his hands like it was nothing important. It was most definitely something important; it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

That was when it hit him. Boris had found something that no one believed existed, just to make him happy. That made no sense whatsoever, of course, but it still seemed more logical than 'He found something that most believed to just be a fairy tale just to poison me'. That idea was unsettling, and Pierce decided that it was a great time to be simpleminded. He shoved any and all thoughts of their being anything but cat and mouse from his mind, and instead gawked at the cheese he held in his hands. He knew that he only had enough coffee left in his house to make one more cup, and the dairy product was better than coffee, it was much better. Cheese wasn't awful or bitter, it was delicious. It was this cheese that could completely erase the need for icky coffee. Pierce didn't know what to tell Boris the next time they saw each other. This present was amazing.

It was the single best thing he'd ever received, and oh boy, did he appreciate it. He just wasn't ready to talk to Boris yet. He was still scared, of course, he'd always felt like he was in danger around Boris. That wasn't going to change because of a few very thoughtful gifts. Those very thoughtful gifts were the main reason he wasn't willing to talk to him yet. Pierce knew he was just over thinking things, and that there had to be a reasonable explanation, but they felt almost like a peace offering. He knew they couldn't be; Boris was never nice. They couldn't possibly be anything but a trap, but still, he felt strange about them.

Pierce poured the half-finished coffee into the sink, and took a small chunk from the side of his cheese. Pierce would much rather nibble on the highly caffeinated dairy product when he realized that the other option was contemplate Boris and his gifts. He could think about that tomorrow.

That night, Boris reappeared at the Clock Tower to inform Alice of his victory. She still didn't understand where he'd found this cheese pumped with caffeine, but she was certainly happy to hear that Pierce enjoyed it. She wasn't sure _why_ he enjoyed it, but he did, and that was what mattered. One thing was bothering her about Boris, though. No matter what they were discussing, he'd point the conversation in the direction of flowers. She wasn't sure what he was planning, but Alice knew it was going to be important.

She chose not to ask why he needed information on flowers, and instead answered his questions to the best of her abilities. It was only when Boris started asking about what flowers mice liked that she understood his plans.

"You're going to give him flowers? That's so sweet!"

Boris shuffled around the topic for a moment before admitting that his plans for tomorrow did involve flowers, and pointed out that the question of 'what flowers would he like' still stood. Alice thought for a moment, before she had a suitable answer.

"Orange lilies."

Boris thought about it for a moment or two before he thanked Alice and rushed out. She was happy to help, and adored the thought of Boris delivering a bouquet of orange lilies to Pierce. It was a thought that was simply too cute for words.

Author's Notes:

-My dad was playing with his Zhuzhu Pet while I was trying to write this…

-This chapter has the most dialogue so far…. and It's all between Pierce and his fish…

-I was listening to Back while writing this…yes…Bach. After some research, I discovered " The Coffee Cantata" and listened to it while writing this.

Onto the serious note:

I actually enjoyed writing confused and stressed Pierce. I adore writing him as oblivious and cute, but it was nice to get to write cute, but not teeth rotting cute Pierce. Also, his projecting onto the fish was the most fun thing I've written in awhile.

Pierce stole the show…he wasn't supposed to even think about them as anything but enemies until nearly the end, yet here he is, spoiling my plot. He's a jerk. He's cute, but still a jerk.

~Ali


	7. Invitation

The next morning, eight seventeen came and went without a visit from Boris. Pierce was both disappointed and relieved, and spent the next nineteen minutes contemplating various scenarios with Basil. He didn't mind the bonding time with his fish, and it saved him from all of the stress that the presents always brought, but it still bothered him that there had been no sign of Boris. He didn't worry for long. At exactly eight forty-six the knock from the first two days was back. Pierce quickly decided that he wanted to see what Boris was going to do, and chose to open the door.

It was no surprise when he found Boris on his porch. Pierce had been expecting a visit from the local cat. He still wasn't sure what the visit meant, but he could only think of two options. The first, and far less desirable, option was that Boris wanted to know what hot sauce tasted best on mice. The second was that he actually wanted to have a conversation with him. The latter was much better, but also so much more confusing.

Pierce gathered his voice, held onto the door frame, and spoke as best he could.

"What are you doing here, Boris?"

Boris sort of grinned, which was a little bit alarming to Pierce. Pointy teeth were always worrisome to mice, after all. He ignored that though and moved on. Boris fidgeted around, and searched for the right words. Once he found them, he began to speak.

"I wanted to ask you something. Well, actually, I guess I wanted to ask for something…"

Boris' hands shot out from behind his back, which caused Pierce to flinch just the tiniest bit. When nothing made contact with him, he opened his eyes to find a cluster of bright orange lilies under his nose. Pierce saw that they were lovely, but didn't fully realize that he was supposed to take them. That led to an awkward moment of the two of them just staring at each other before Pierce understood. He took the flowers and stared at them while Boris began talking again.

"Would you want to go to dinner with me?"

And that was that. Pierce was on the other side of the door before Boris had time to say another word. All of his worst fears were confirmed with just that sentence. Boris was up to no good, and all of this had been just a new way of getting to Pierce. It made him very sad to realize that, and he had no idea why he was feeling so bad about it. It meant that things were back to normal, but it didn't feel like good thing.

More than anything else, Pierce was confused. It made no sense at all. Boris had been nice. He was never nice. It was strange before, but now it was just flat out confusing.

Pierce was and always would be simple minded. He had often been this confused about things in the past, and when he was he always ran to Alice. She was great at figuring things out. He ran through his home and out the back door, and took the great trek to the Clock Tower. It was a long hike, and the entire time all he could focus on was all of the things that had happened to him, especially that day. He tried to avoid the thoughts, but they persisted and eventually won. Pierce let his mind dwell on those events while walking, and soon he came to the Tower.

He knocked, rather sheepishly, and Julius opened the door. Two others were sitting around a table near the door. Ace and Alice were sitting, and both looked at the door. Alice stood and went to greet Pierce. Apparently she knew something was wrong, because without asking what the problem was she pulled him into a small side room that she often used to hold conversations in private. They sat down at a small table inside, and Pierce immediately started describing everything that had happened over the past few days in great detail, from the mangled baby bird all the way to the dinner/death threat. She listened quietly, and occasionally asked simple questions. Pierce would answer to the best of his ability before going right back to his story.

After a good fifteen minutes of constant talking he finished. Pierce took a deep breath, and looked to Alice for her advice. She was quiet for a moment or two before she spoke.

"Pierce," She started ", did you let him finish, or did you assume the worst and run again?"

He thought about it for a minute before he realized that he wasn't even sure. Boris did talk about dinner, and he only talked about dinner before doing something horrible before, but things seemed different from before and-

Pierce's head was starting to hurt, so he chose the easiest answer.

"I really don't know…"

Alice sighed. "Well then why don't we go and talk to him?" Pierce shook his head no.

"If I go he might eat me!" Alice sighed again. She sat silent for a moment, and Pierce waited for her to think of something that could fix this predicament.

"Well, I could come with you to talk to him. You know I'd never let anything eat you, right?" Pierce nodded. He trusted Alice, and knew that she wouldn't let anything happen to him.

They left the Tower and went off to the Amusement Park. It was a long walk filled with chatter between the two. The talk was mostly Pierce asking about what exactly he should say, do, and the like. Alice tried her best to answer his questions, but eventually had to cut him off. They'd arrived at the Amusement Park.

They found Boris sulking on top of a wall that was slightly taller than Alice. They never would have noticed him if it weren't for the fact that he had let his boa hang over the edge, and it made a big pink mark against a brick wall. Alice sighed for the third time that day, muttered something about "just like a cat" and walked up to the base of the wall. She called up, and his response was simply to jump off the wall. He landed in front of them, and Alice started speaking before either of the other two had time to react to the others.

"Boris, do you remember what I told you?"

"Which part? I brought the flowers, and I asked nicely!"

"How about the part about not asking him to dinner yet? What part of 'his greatest fear is being eaten' didn't sink in?"

"Oh...yeah...no."

Pierce was fidgeting behind Alice. He didn't want to get involved with the conversation, but at the same time he really wanted to know exactly what was going on. Alice continued verbally bulldozing Boris.

"I've talked to him about it, and he's made a decision."  
That was when Pierce decided to interject.

"I'll go with you, but on one condition," The sheer joy on Boris' face was indescribable. "Alice has to come with us."

Alice was shocked, since that was NOT part of the plan. Boris was a little bit disappointed, but Pierce could still see that he was very, very happy to say the least.

After a small conversation, Pierce left the other two to plan. Dinner was tossed out, and several new ideas were born. Alice and Boris made their plans, and Alice apologized profusely for her addition as a third wheel. The one time Pierce decided to take a stand, and it had to be for something like this. That didn't stop the two from coming up with some very interesting ideas, and somewhere on his way home Pierce was intrigued. Whatever Boris had planned, it was certainly going to be strange.

Author's Notes:

-I imagine the lilies are either 'Loreto' or 'giraffe' lilies. What are with those names? I don't know.

-Writing Boris speaking is so, so hard for me. I try my best, but it doesn't go so well. He's a part of the reason this is so late!

-I feel so bad for Boris for the first 1/3 of this chapter. He got a door slammed in his face right when he though he might have a chance.

-I have no idea what Pierce's home is like, nor do I know where the Clock Tower is in relation to said home. I know that in Joker he's in the Amusement park, but that's it.

And now for the Serious stuff

First of all, I' so sorry this is so late. School started up again, and finals week is coming up. It's insane that we come back for a week, and then finals! School kind of demanded attention, so I've been working on this on and off as much as I can, but things just ate me. I'm sorry! About the chapter itself, I adored the first half. Once he got the Tower, I just stopped liking it. Oh well. My main concern is that I got Boris OOC. He seems like the kind of person that wouldn't take rejection well. All in all, this chapter was okay. I'm more excited about the next three. Those will be great fun to write!

~Ali


	8. Kitty

The day started off with a very jittery Pierce. While getting dressed in the morning all he could do was chatter to Basil even more than usual.

"I'm actually kind of excited, Basil. It's scary and it's weird, but maybe it'll be fun!"

He kept on speaking to the fish while straightening himself up. This went on until nine thirty, when a now familiar knock interrupted his ramblings. Pierce flung open the door, and was not the slightest bit surprised to see Alice and Boris standing on his stoop

They each greeted each other in a fairly normal way, and Boris' orange bouquet made its second appearance. This time Pierce actually took the flowers without any hesitation. He asked for a moment, which just so happened to be long enough for him to find a vase for the flowers and to present them very nicely on this table next to Basil. He was sure the fish would adore the bright orange flowers. He bid the fish good bye before running out to meet his two companions on his porch. With all of them present, they went off on their merry way.

Most of the day was spent in the Amusement Park. Alice tried her very hardest to stay far enough back to give them some privacy while still being close enough for Pierce's comfort.

They started searching for a fun but simple ride, and ended up choosing the spinning cups. Pierce enjoyed the ride, but also found out that he got dizzy rather easily. Next they visited something a little less dizzying, the carousal. He adored the simple ride, and fell in love with the tan horse in a green harness, and rode it at least three times. Next Boris brought them to the aisles of carnival games hidden off in one corner of the park. Pierce was enchanted by the games, but soon realized he wasn't all that good at them. He tried his hardest, but soon gave up and chose to watch the other two pay instead. This went on for forty-five minutes, until every single game had been played. They then moved onto the next attraction, which just so happened to be the haunted house. Pierce did NOT enjoy this particular area. It was general knowledge that Pierce was an incredibly jumpy boy, and he was ready to turn tail and run before they even went into the building. Alice kept her arm looped through his, both keeping him from running and at the same time bringing him a bit of comfort. The hallways filled with ghosts and ghouls didn't go so well with Pierce, who was nearly having a panic attack by the time they made it out.

Once they'd escaped the "horror" of the haunted house Alice suggested a calmer ride, preferably one that didn't require much walking. All three agreed that it was a good idea, and Boris dragged them off in the direction of the Ferris wheel. It was a calm and slow ride, and Pierce's only problem with it was that he had been left alone in a small space with Boris. Now, lately things between the two had been much less scary, and Boris had even stopped scaring him as much as he always had. That didn't stop the mouse's instincts from calling for him to run as fast as he could. He succeeded at ignoring the urge to flee, and all in all, the ride was pleasant.

At Alice's request the three took a short break at a rest area. It was right next to the game area they'd visited earlier that morning, and had a few straggling games stuck in any empty corner. One of the machines was a claw game, where the goal was to pick up one of the trinkets that you could keep, but only if you caught it. It had Boris' attention from the minute he walked into the area. The three sat together for about three minutes before Boris drifted over to the machine. Pierce's curiosity got the best of him not even a minute after he'd left, and so He went off to watch Boris' battle with the machine.

There was a small mountain of quarters piled up on the control board. Pierce watched in pure fascination as Boris put two quarters into the slot and woke up the grabber. Lights on the top and bottom of the machine started blinking, and the most obnoxious music he'd ever heard started up with them. He stared as the claw made its way around the inside of the glass box. The timer buzzed, and the claw dropped automatically to show that the time had run out. Boris hadn't caught a thing, and announced it with a loud "arg!" of frustration. He took two more quarters and tried again. The second try went about as well as the first, if not worse. Pierce wanted a better view, and scooted closer to the machine every few drops of the claw, so that he could get a slightly less obstructed view.

Once he'd approached the machine, there was one thing he'd noticed immediately. The toys were packed so tightly together that it would be nearly impossible to retrieve any of them. It seemed to him that Gowland just didn't want to give up the fluffy animals to the general public. No matter how many times Boris dropped the claw around a lump of purple and pink, the whatever-it-was wouldn't allow its self to be separated from its fluffy, stuffed friends.

After a few minutes of watching, Pierce got tired of standing and went back to sit with Alice. They chatted about the day so far, and how Pierce had just been jumping to conclusions (as usual) while thy ignored the frustrated groans coming from behind them. After a pleasant five minutes of conversation Pierce took a moment to go back and check on Boris. The mountain had dwindled to a pile of four, two of which were about to go into the machine. Boris was once again denied the fuzzy animals. He put in his last two quarters, and Pierce practically pressed his face against the glass

Boris carefully placed the claw over the purple whatever-it-was and dropped it. The three-pronged claw wrapped around the mystery thing, and pulled it up. By some sort of divine intervention, the purple thing came lose and dropped down the chute. The obnoxious music changed to a squealing "Winner!" and Boris was practically bouncing up and down from excitement. He stooped and reached into the prize chute, and pulled out the whatever-it-is. After a closer inspection, Pierce realized that it was a small purple and pink cat with a big red bow on its chest.

Boris looked at the cat, looked at Pierce, looked at the cat, looked at Pierce AGAIN, and then stuck the cat in Pierce's hands. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it, or even how to say thank you for such a randomly given gift. Boris, not giving him time to think it through, turned and walked back in the direction of Alice. That left a very confused Pierce still trying to form a thank you standing by the prize machine. He took a second to compose himself before going back to Alice as well.

The three talked for a moment, and Pierce sat with the small cat on his lap. He fidgeted with it as they talked about what to do next. It was decided that food would be good, since it was getting fairly close to noon, and lunch had to be eaten. After hotdogs and cotton candy were located, they moved on to the next attraction. Boris made several suggestions, including the tilt-o-whirl and tunnel of love, all of which were shot down by Alice. She may not have been a participating member of the not-a-date, but it was painfully obvious that neither of those would be a good idea. After a small debate, mostly between Boris and Alice, it was decided that Boris could choose the next ride as long as it hadn't already been suggested, then Pierce could choose the second, and Alice got the last one. Boris' first choice was, much to Pierce's dismay, the enormous rollercoaster that towered over the rest of the park. Pierce was understandably terrified of the monster of a ride, and gripped the little purple cat even closer to his chest. He tried to put on a brave face, but his fear was obvious.

It took no longer than five minutes to reach the enormous roller coaster, and there was not one person in line to ride it. They boarded immediately, and Pierce was very certain to tuck the kitty into the pocket in front of him. After that, he remembered almost nothing. To Pierce, the ride was just a giant ball of fear, adrenaline, and "Oh God, Why?" It was a rush of absolute terror that he could later only describe as "meep!" Luckily for Pierce, it was also over in an instant.

When they left the ride behind, the first thing Pierce noticed was that he could no longer see straight, nor could he walk in a straight line. He discovered these things in the worst way possible, when a bench that seemed to jump out of nowhere knocked him flat on his back, with the little cat still in his hands. Both Alice and Boris jumped to check on him, though Boris got there first.

They both helped him up and checked to make sure he wasn't damaged before he tried walking again. It didn't work out, and he ended up on his bottom on the sidewalk with no idea how he got there. Boris practically carried him to a nearby bench before he and Alice talked through their situation.

"Well, he's not going anywhere." Was all Alice had to say when they got him to the bench.

"Yeah…he doesn't look so good. "

"Boris, I hate to say this, but I think you should take him back to his house. "

Boris nodded, and thought over how exactly to get the befuddled mouse from point A to point B. it didn't take long for Boris to come up with a plan. He crouched down with his back to the bench, and waved Alice over.

"Hey, push him on my back!" Alice did just that, and it worked out rather nicely. Pierce settled immediately, and buried his face in the warm fluff of Boris' boa.

And with that, Boris was on his merry way to drop Pierce off at his home. It wasn't a bad walk, not at all, and Boris had no problem with the small weight on his back, and might even have been the tiniest bit happy about it. The fact that Pierce wasn't having a panic attack was a good sign. Pierce was slowly getting used to having him around. There was plenty of proof, like how tightly he was holding onto the little cat doll, even in his semi-conscious state. Boris was overjoyed by all of these recent developments, though he tried his hardest to keep it to himself.

By the time he made it back to his house, Pierce had almost completely regained consciousness. He still wasn't freaking out, which was just supporting Boris' great mood. Boris opened the door, brought Pierce to a couch, and set him down. He was mostly alive again, and was looking rather dazed. Taking advantage of his barely functioning state, Boris lent down and gave him a quick peck no the check before practically sprinting out of the house.

Pierce had no idea about what just happened. All he knew was that he was in his house, and that Boris had gotten very, very close to his face. Now, if he had been fully awake at the time things might have gone a little bit differently. Unfortunately, he still had an awful tummy ache and was partially asleep and so reacted much like he would have if the same thing had happened a month ago. He fainted.

Author's Notes:

-This chapter wasn't much fun to write until around the Ferris wheel scene, where things started being fun again.

-The carousel horse totally matches Pierce's color scheme.

-I just noticed that when typing in Pierce's voice I tend to make him talk like Eloise. It's kinda really cute.

-I think I'm getting sick, and this chapter probably suffered from it, I'm sorry.

Serious Notes:

Jeez, I'm really, really tired. I think I may be getting sick. I've been miserable for two days as of when I was writing this (Monday, January 17), and I'm absolutely exhausted. I'm trying to write this as quickly and as well as possible, But I'm afraid I might have not done my best here. I'm really, really sorry.

About the actual chapter, I guess it's okay. If I was functioning correctly, I'd probably like the second half so much more. That's where it started being fun to write again, but the problem is that it's also where I started getting sick. Honestly, I wouldn't even be trying now if it weren't for my amazing cup of Yorkshire tea.

Let's hope I get better soon,

~Ali


	9. MiniChapter: Morning

Pierce woke up the next morning on his couch, still holding on to the little stuffed cat. He had no idea how he'd gotten there, and that worried him. But, like most things In Pierce's mind, he figured that if he ignored it, whatever it was might go away. He went about his morning like there was nothing at all the matter, and started making something or other for breakfast. Before doing that, he stuck the cat on his table between Basil and the bouquet, and went about his business. He was about halfway through his breakfast preparations when he remembered how exactly he'd ended up on his couch.

Boris had carried him home, and according to his rather fuzzy memories, tried to eat him.

Pierce stopped everything he was doing, and ran out of the house to begin the trek to the Clock Tower. He HAD to talk to Alice. She always knew how things like this worked, no matter what.

Things would have worked out so much better for all parties involved if Pierce didn't always assume the worst, no matter what. He couldn't grasp the fact that it was simply an innocent little kiss on the cheek, and not some sort of horrible, menacing threat.

Author's Note:

Guys, calm down. this is only the first part to this chapter, but i almost had to post it as a separate piece. sorry about that, now go on to part two!

~Ali.


	10. Pierce's Therapy

Alice was getting used to the spontaneous visits from both Boris and Pierce, so when there was a frantic knock at the Tower's door no one was particularly surprised to see that it was Pierce. She let him in, and took him to the small storage room that she always used when someone came by in need of a therapist. They sat down at the small table, and Pierce described everything that had happened from when he was carried from the amusement park to waking up this morning. He had trouble with the events from yesterday, thanks to his being nearly unconscious for most of the trip.

Alice listened carefully, and thought about the predicament her friends were in. She knew that Boris was in desperate need of some help, there was no way that Pierce would understand his affections on his own. Boris didn't want any outside help, he'd told her so. She had a choice, either risk Boris' anger and tell Pierce that he had a rather large crush on him or leave Pierce to his own devices. If she left him alone, he'd never figure it out. Alice looked at him. He looked as dazed and innocent as always, and that made the choice that much easier.

"Pierce," He looked up "Boris wasn't trying to eat you. " Pierce looked baffled.

"But what else would he be trying to do?"

Alice had to think about a response to that one, it was a tough question. She wanted to just say it, but Boris would be mad. Then again, Boris could get over himself. Someone had to talk to Pierce, and she seemed to be in the ideal position to do that.

"Well, he likes you. "

She had tried to word it as simply as she could, but it was obvious she'd confused him more.

"Likes me?" Pierce looked absolutely bewildered, and Alice tried again.

"Likes you, yes." she made sure to emphasize it correctly this time, but he still didn't get it. She tried explaining it as daintily as possible, and then tried practically pounding it through his head. Neither of these tactics worked, and she just couldn't get it him understand. It was the second most frustrated thing she'd ever done, the first being when Boris was searching for the right way to express his affections for the boy. She'd suggested gifts, and we all saw how that worked out.

She focused once again on the confused Pierce in front of her for a second or two before her attention was caught by a knock at the door. Julius knew that she was not to be disturbed when talking with someone, so it had to be something very important. She popped open the door to find Julius, to no one's disbelief.

"What is it?"

"Ace is coming over, once again, with almost no warning. I think he wants to make me dinner or some such nonsense." Julius did not look happy, or even tolerant of the situation. No one but Alice acknowledged it, but Ace seemed to have a bit of a fondness for Julius, much to Julius' dismay. She'd learned after a while that when Ace was doing anything that involved cooking, it meant alcohol would also be involved. Usually, it also meant that it would be in Alice's best interest if she were gone.

She nodded to Julius and shut the door. "Pierce, I'm sorry, but I've got some errands to run. I think it'd be best if you went home."

Alice sent him on his merry way, and decided that she might finally go borrow some books from the mansion.

Pierce found on his way home that he was very, very bothered by the conversation he'd just had. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but something was bugging him. He thought about it the entire walk home, and couldn't even let it go after he'd been back for a while. Pierce was sitting at his table, Basil and the still-unnamed cat sitting in front of him. He mumbled to the fish for a while, before he just sat his head down on the table in pure confusion and frustration. He stayed like that, just mulling over the past week's events. Suddenly, his head popped off of the wood, and a look of absolute surprise crossed his face.

"THAT kind of like?" was all he said, before he started rambling to Basil and his new friend, the cat.

"But, but, but, "There was a pause as he reviewed the goings-on of the week again "Oh. THAT kind of like. "

He went on like that for a while, and Basil continued playing the voice of reason. His imaginary responses kept the one sided conversation going for a while, until Pierce finally grasped the meaning of the week.

"I guess it does kind of make sense…"

Pierce sat silently at the table for a short while, oddly calm. He looked up at Basil, and mumbled "Remind me to go talk to Boris tomorrow…" before he wandered over to the couch with the little cat, and spent some time trying to name it. He sat with the cat in his hands, suggesting names in the same trial and error style that led to Basil's name.

"Ferdinand?" No, that was really very sharp sounding, which didn't fit something so tiny and cute.

"Could you be Orville?" Of course that was another no. Orville was more a dog's name than a cat's, and that just wouldn't do.

"How about Ezekiel?" That was far too serious sounding, and not soft enough.

And then Pierce thought of the most absolutely perfect name for him. He held the cat up to his face, almost nose to nose, and declared "You're Archibald, aren't you?" it was a good name, and it certainly fit him.

Pierce realized that his final distraction, the cat's name, was now gone and he was left with nothing but Boris in his mind. He sat on his couch, with the little cat, and could think of nothing but what he would say to Boris tomorrow. He looked to Archibald, who seemed to have gained Basil's habit of responding to the question's that his owner needed most.

"What do I do?" was all he asked, and Archibald had a very simple (but fictional) suggestion for him.

"Well, you do what you feel is right, right?"

He looked at the inanimate cat, and nodded in agreement. It was very good advice, and Pierce thought that maybe it meant he should do the simplest thing he could find tomorrow. That was the best idea he could think of, and by the time he found it he was absolutely exhausted from all of the work he'd just done mentally.

Pierce curled up around Archibald, and almost slept, but just almost. Some things wouldn't change so easily, and his sleeping habits seemed to be one of them.

Author's Notes:

-This chapter was done in two parts, and I bet you guys want to kill me for that. I really, really wanted to do the Pierce waking up bit, but I dislike switching views in a piece unless something happens to the focus, like passing out. So, yeah. Two parts.

- I apologize to any of you who may be bothered by the Ace/Julius jokes. I see it in the manga, and really needed a reason for Alice to leave. Ace kind of shoved himself into this fic.

-Ah, Pierce. You're projecting onto the stuffed cat, honey.

-Alice was the cause of everything that's happened so far.

Serious Notes:

Well, my loves. This story is very near wrapping up. I hope you enjoy reading the ending as much as I'll enjoy writing it. Though we're not quite there yet, so I'll talk of this chapter instead.

This chapter is a bit bumpy, but not that bad in my opinion. Alice was pretty fun to write as again, and I'll miss getting to 'be' her. I know, after the whole ' I hate switching POV" thing, what do I do? I switch views. Why? I don't know. Maybe because I wanted Pierce to figure it out a little bit sooner? I think that might be it. I'm tired, and will be writing as much as I can when I can but right now I need to shower and sleep. I've got a long day of school ahead of me.

I love you all,

~Ali.


	11. Kitties and Ice Cream

A little note: I hope you guys like maple syrup, 'cause this is the sappiest thing I've ever written.

* * *

The morning after Archibald's naming was a hectic one, but not in a bad way. Most of the flustered feelings were caused by Pierce's attempts at planning, and not because of anything actually distressing. He had this bad habit of coming up with the most irrational and ridiculous plans to meet up with Boris. He really just wanted to tell him that he understood what he meant, and might even be open to it, but he just couldn't think of anything that wasn't over the top and just plain silly. So, after a bit of thought, he felt it was best to just do the first thing that came to mind when he found Boris. He wanted to talk to him that day, and so the next step was to go and actually find him. That would be the hard part. He decided to bring Archibald with him, as a sort of escort and off they went.

He started his search in the most obvious place, the Amusement Park. Unfortunately, Boris was nowhere to be found. Pierce hadn't really thought out where he'd go next if Boris wasn't home, and so he ended up simply meandering about Wonderland for almost an hour. It was a pleasant day, so he really didn't mind. Everyone else seemed to be busy that particular afternoon, and he barely passed anyone on his walk. This went on for a while, until he somehow ended up in the area surrounding the Clock Tower. It seemed that Pierce had luck on his side that day, because once he'd gotten to the area directly surrounding the tower, he spotted Boris. He was walking nonchalantly, probably just ambling around as he often did. Pierce still didn't have a plan, but went flying towards Boris anyway, Archibald in hand.

Something of Pierce's size is quite good at gaining speed, and made it to Boris in little to no time. Stopping, on the other hand, was much more difficult. He somehow managed to not trample the older boy, but his entrance certainly did bring attention to himself. Boris started to turn around, but was immediately stopped when Pierce, who was panicking, grabbed onto his tail and yanked. Boris yelped and jumped and tried to face his assailant, and Pierce used this to his advantage. In the few moments that he was distracted, Pierce did the first thing that came to mind. He zipped in front of the taller boy, grabbed onto the hair on either side of his face, and pulled as hard as his little arms could. This actually had a purpose, as the hair tugging brought them to almost the same level. Pierce looked the beaten cat in the eye for less than a second before he stood up on his tippy-toes and kissed him on the forehead.

This time around, Boris was stunned in a slightly different way, and it was clearly displayed on his face. Pierce once again took the pause as a chance to do what he felt was right, and he nearly fled in the other direction. Boris took a moment to fully process what had just happened, and once he did the most bewildered expression imaginable ran across his face. It was directly followed by one of pure playfulness as he took off in the direction that Pierce had just fled. It didn't take long for him to catch up, and he almost tackled the smaller boy.

Almost.

All he really managed to do was bring them both to the ground. Boris could see that Pierce did NOT appreciate what'd just happened, but he'd deemed it pay back for the tail pull. Before Pierce had time to flee again, Boris grabbed the stuffed cat and simply looked at him. Pierce saw the cat was being held captive, sat up, and waited for whatever was about to happen.

Boris looked at him, before asking the first question that came to mind.

"What was that? I mean, not saying I didn't appreciate it, but still."

Pierce looked very uncomfortable, and fidgeted around with the hem of his coat while trying to answer.

"Well, Alice said that you liked me, but not liked me, Liked me, and I thought with all the stuff you did for me, I should do something too…and that was all I could think of."

Boris smiled at just how freakin' cute he could be, before continuing their attempt at a conversation.

"So," He looked down at the cat in his lap. "Who's this?"

Pierce released the hem of his shirt, and looked a little less hesitant with the next answer.

"That's Archibald."

The name struck him as being a little strange, but he went with it. He brought the cat up to his eye level, and introduced himself.

"Well, how do you do, Mr. Archibald? I'm Boris, a friend of Pierce. It's nice to meet you!"

He nodded the little cat up and down as a sort of greeting before placing him back into Pierce's hands.

"So, why don't the three of us go do something? It's kinda warm today, so maybe ice cream?"

Pierce's expressions went by in fascinating parade of panic, confusion, joy and concentration. When it got to the final look he scrunched up his face, and it looked like he was thinking very hard about the choice. After that, he looked down at the stuffed cat and brought Archibald a little closer to his face. He nodded vigorously at the little cat before looking back up at Boris, and happily agreeing to the expedition.

The two, who had been sitting on the ground the entire time, stood after a little more discussion. They walked off together, and Pierce had Archibald walk on the waist-high brick wall that ran next to the street. Boris couldn't help himself and took a moment to just watch the oblivious boy next to him happily play with a stuffed animal. It was just so simple and sweet, and he couldn't look away.

And, really, he hoped he wouldn't have to. Boris really did think that they could work through the issues that were sure to arise from being a cat and a mouse. Sure, they'd be dysfunctional, but where's the fun in being normal? They WERE in Wonderland, after all.

And that is the end, my Lovelies.

* * *

Author's Novella:

-Don't you love my made-up geography? I really have no idea what the areas are like in comparison to each other, nor do I know exactly what the clock tower's area looks like. in the manga, it seems to be a town with the Tower in the center, so that's what I went with.

-Boris had no idea what was coming for him, in the form of Rocket!Pierce.

-I've no idea why Pierce is being so violent. The tail pull was because he was kind of panicking, but I don't know why he yanked on his hair, other then to 'fix' the height problem.

-All Boris wanted to do was grab his shoulder or arm, not tackle him. Oopsies.

The Serious Notes:

All right, before I tell you all how much I love you there's something in need from you. There WILL be a sequel to this, after I write a Hetalia fic. It's set a while after this story, once they're pretty much a functioning couple. The theme is basically "The ups and downs of an interspecies relationship", and it talks about how they deal with things like Boris' hunting, Sleeping habits, and things like that. I need you guys, being the intelligent and kind people you are, to give me some suggestions for things they need to work through. Simple responses, like "Catnip" or "Bath Time" are greatly loved, but if you've got a full situation then please tell me! I'd love to hear it!

Now, on to my love of you guys. I'm so, so happy that we could go through this together. I've talked to so many kind people while writing this, and I'm so happy to hear from all of you! Just today, I signed onto my email and had twenty-three emails, all from Fan fiction! I'm so glad to hear from you, and I really hope you'll stick with me as I write more, and hopefully improve!

I love you all,

~Ali.

The only things that belong to me in this fic are Archibald and Basil. none of the characters or places represented are mine, if they were I wouldn't be writing fic.


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